The owners of Elvis Presley’s music rights have sued Anthropic, accusing the artificial intelligence company of using hundreds of songs without permission to train its Claude AI model.
The plaintiffs are seeking $48.6 million in damages and an end to the alleged infringement. Their complaint also challenges Anthropic’s public messaging about benefiting humanity, arguing that technological progress does not justify disregarding copyright owners.
The lawsuit follows weeks of coverage surrounding Anthropic’s IPO preparations and potential $2 trillion valuation, placing its treatment of creative works alongside its financial ambitions.
Rights Holders Challenge Use of 274 Songs
According to Variety, a group including Authentic Brands Group, Raleigh Music Publishing, and other stakeholders filed the 28-page lawsuit in the Northern District of California on October 23.
The complaint alleges that Anthropic improperly trained Claude on 274 songs from Presley’s catalog, including “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “Run On,” and “Farther Along.”
Alongside the damages demand, the plaintiffs want Anthropic to stop infringing their copyrights.
Claude logo – Claude, YouTube
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Their lead attorney, Richard Busch, argues that Anthropic’s stated commitment to advancing society does not excuse using protected material without authorization.
“While in other cases for copyright infringement, Defendant has waxed poetic about the necessity of progress and AI’s value to society, there is simply no reason—other than rote expediency—to have that progress come at the cost of copyright holders,” Busch writes in the complaint.
The argument puts the rights holders’ objections plainly: the potential benefits of artificial intelligence do not eliminate their interest in controlling how their work is used.
Complaint Takes Aim at Anthropic’s Financial Ambitions
Busch also connects the alleged infringement to Anthropic’s pursuit of a potentially $2 trillion initial public offering, accusing the company of using Presley’s catalog to help build its value.
“The Works were created over periods of dozens of years, and Anthropic, by its infringing conduct, is destroying the value of these Works in a matter of a few years with only profit as its motive,” he wrote.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei – CBS Sunday Morning, YouTube
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Those accusations remain contested. An Anthropic spokesperson said in a statement: “We disagree with the claims and intend to defend this case fully.”
Anthropic’s IPO preparations and potential valuation had already drawn coverage in the weeks leading up to the litigation. Fox Business subsequently reported on the company’s public prospectus release as it moved toward a stock-market debut.
The lawsuit places those financial ambitions under scrutiny. As Anthropic prepares to court public investors, Presley’s rights holders argue that protected creative work helped fuel its growth without their permission.
Another Copyright Challenge for Anthropic
As Variety notes, Busch previously sued Anthropic on behalf of independent publisher Round Hill Music in August. That lawsuit sought $1 billion over allegations that the company illegally scraped hundreds of songs.
Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley, YouTube
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Anthropic also agreed last year to a $1.5 billion settlement with authors who accused it of misusing their books for AI training. Music AI companies including Suno and Udio have faced separate litigation, reflecting the wider conflict between AI developers and copyright owners.
For Presley’s rights holders, the latest case concerns the value and control of songs built into a lasting musical legacy. Anthropic disputes their allegations, leaving the court to determine whether its use of those works violated their rights.
The company’s pursuit of a massive valuation makes the dispute especially consequential. Creators and publishers are demanding a say in how their work supports commercially valuable AI products, challenging the assumption that technological progress should proceed on terms set by the companies developing it.
What do you think of the Elvis Presley estate’s lawsuit against Anthropic? Sound off and let us know!
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